Apparel

Cotton Ends at 2-1/4-year Low
May 18, 2012

Cotton futures settled on Thursday at a 2-1/4-year low on speculative sales as bumper supplies and a shaky global economy kept market bears firmly in control, analysts said.    

July cotton on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange slipped 0.32 cent to finish at 76.65 cents per lb., trading from 76.26 to 78.23 cents. It was the lowest close for the spot cotton contract since February 2010, Thomson Reuters data showed.    

Baby Steps Lead to Big Sales in Infant Apparel
May 17, 2012

There's a new epidemic spreading throughout Hollywood-many celebrities have caught baby fever (and to the best of my knowledge this has nothing to do with 50 Shades of Grey). 

Record Cotton Stocks Overwhelm Market
May 16, 2012

It’s hard for the cotton market to ignore nearly 74 million bales of supply. That’s one reason why cotton analysts say cotton futures dropped precipitously in early May, despite China continuing to buy cotton to add to its reserves.

Comment: The US-Colombia Trade Pact Two-Step
May 16, 2012

It is an old adage in Washington that it is hard to take two steps forward without also taking one step back.

The 15 May entry into force of the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) provides the U.S. apparel industry with a front row seat on this particular Washington two-step.

U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Goes Into Effect May 15
May 14, 2012

A free-trade agreement between the United States and Colombia will go into effect on Tuesday, May 15. The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA) will remove duties and tariffs on many of the goods exchanged between Colombia and the U.S.,  the Latin American country's largest trading partner.

SanMar Opens New Minneapolis Warehouse
May 11, 2012

SanMar Corporation, a leading industry supplier of apparel and accessories headquartered in Issaquah, Wash., announced the opening of its Minneapolis warehouse. Taking a new two-step approach, SanMar is opening a temporary facility now to more quickly serve its customer needs while waiting for construction to be completed on a full-scale warehouse, opening summer 2013.